COLOR-MAD MONDAY: INSTANT GRATIFICATION

I love doing my travel journals or one of my torn-paper-collages, but they take a lot of thinking and prepping and planning and painting and ripping and gluing. Once I get into the flow of it, I can keep at it indefinitely. However, once I've been pulled out of the flow - by weddings or birthings or vacations or holiday seasons -- it can be very, very hard to get back into it! That's when I need something quick and simple that says "Aw come on, you can finish me in a day!" I need some instant gratification -- anything that will get me to put paintbrush to paper. That's when I turn to this little jewel.

Sometimes, I just have to allow myself to take the easy way out -- to start with one of her designs, instead of coming up with one of my own, and just play with my cheapo craft paints and whatever markers are at hand, instead of creating hand-painted papers, then tearing them up to be glued down as collage. Which is how I finally managed to pick up a paint brush for the first time since I got back from art camp in early November! The result was this happy little teapot house, that makes me smile each time I see it.

Now, finally, I'm ready and eager to move on to a bit of my own folk art fusion -- perhaps something inspired by one of the little vignettes scattered around my house.

I'll let you know how it goes!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: CRAFTSMANSHIP, PROGRESSING OR REGRESSING?

Coming across the seeds of this post, in one of my old journals, got me to thinkin' -- about all the changes, modernization and growth that has occurred in our little town since we moved here more than ten years ago, all the small businesses that have folded, and our obsession with online shopping and cheap goods in general. Sometimes we feel like the town we loved is disappearing right before our eyes, but that could just be a sign of old age creeping up on us. Don't all old people say that? Still, one has to wonder...

FLASHBACK 

WHEN IT PAYS TO KNOW THE RIGHT PEOPLE

One of the three couples in our Tiny Dinner Club has this thing they do. Every year our town's civic club hosts a Spring Fling, where lots of different people volunteer to host a party or a game day or teach a class, at their own expense. Hoards of people sign up online and pay to take part in these activities, then all that money goes to different charitable causes right here in our community. Four years ago our friends Ken and Sherri decided to host a dinner -- an epic, tapas style dinner with five or six courses and wine pairings -- and it was such a huge hit that they've continued doing it, with different menus, each year since. We don't always manage to get a place at the table for that event, since word has spread and the limited seats sell out fast. But, as I said, it pays to know the right people!

Ken, Sherri and daughter Bella do all the cooking, while Sherri's mama hosts the official event at her home, where there is more table space, china and crystal!

Fortunately for us, they like to do a test run and get some feedback before the big event, and the members of our little dinner club get to be the guinea pigs. The theme? A Taste of Texas! Below you see the full lineup, minus the "amuse bouche" starter that I jumped in and wolfed down before I remembered to take a photo. It was a plate with chips, homemade guacamole and a cup of the most amazing queso with shredded beef.

(please forgive me, Ken and Sherri, for not remembering the proper names and ingredients of each course, being too busy wolfing, as mentioned above)

Next came these little risotto-like patties made from grits, topped with grilled and glazed shrimp wrapped in bacon...

followed by all of this!

Daughter Bella's Tomato Basil Soup

A Pheasant Taco that I can't even begin to describe, and the best slaw I ever ate!

A Grilled Pork Thingy And Caramelized Scalloped Potatoes With A Hint Of Fruit Somewhere

Last but certainly not least was a bread pudding that my bread-pudding-hater-husband actually devoured! Why? Because it started with a scratch-made biscuit, so you had a mix of creamy and crunchy, instead of the usual gelatinous gooiness.

We feel certain the "official" meal will be a roaring success, as we could not find a single thing to suggest or change this time. Well, other than maybe just giving them a dab of that queso on the very first course, instead of a cupful, which no one could seem to stop eating, even though we knew we still had five courses to go! Maybe that way they won't have to roll them all out to their cars, as they did us.

WHEN WOMEN COME TOGETHER

The VRBO House In Austin Where Niece and Friends Stayed This Weekend

Our niece Jessica was here in Austin this weekend. She has a group of friends from grad school that formed a really tight bond, and helped one another survive the stress and pressure of it all. They were so determined to keep that bond going, as they all graduated and headed off in different directions, that they made a pact to meet up at least once or twice a year, and have held to that pact for many years now. They take turns choosing the location, and have met up is spots all around the country. Last year they were in D.C. for the epic women's march on the capitol. This time it was Jessica's turn to choose, and she opted for Austin, where they participated in another women's march. They shared the darling little VRBO rental you see above, in the Clarksville area of Austin, which has so many great little cafes and shops within walking distance that they didn't even need a car! We felt honored that she made the effort to connect with us for brunch yesterday, but that's just the kind of gal she is.

When her hubby -- John's nephew Geoff -- first met all of these women as a group, he dubbed them "Voltron". He said they were manageable one-on-one, but when you put all five together, watch out! Personally, I consider that a good thing. When women come together, we are far greater than the sum of our parts, and we can make shit happen!

Which is why, each time Jess and her compadres head out to reunite, they each replace their facebook photo with an image of Voltron.

 

THE NEW YEAR CONUNDRUM

Hello again! "What's up?", you ask? Well, not a whole heckuva lot since the holidays ended. Par for the course, I'm having a hard time getting back into the groove of things. I did finally get my art table cleared off enough that I can actually see the last project I was working on before I headed off to Lucky Star Art Camp at the beginning of November. However, as of yet, no further work has been done there. And, although all the Christmas decorations have been returned to their off-season homes, most of my Christmas gifts have yet to find a home.

Some serious purging must be undertaken before that can occur and, as of yet, the only step I have taken is to finally force myself to gather up a big ol' bag of  Prismacolor markers to donate. They're about 15 years old and starting to dry up, but they were from such a pivotal time in my life -- when I had gone back to school to study horticulture and discovered by chance that I actually had a knack for landscape design -- that it was rather difficult to let them go. Now, however, I'm more into art journaling, and this will make space for all the new markers Santa filled my stocking with -- ones that aren't quite so bad about bleeding through one journal page and onto the next!

Riding Around In The Back Of My Car For Who Knows How Long

Oh yeah, I also decided to let go of a few more holiday gee-gaws, and gathered up all the long-handled paint brushes I made the mistake of ordering when I first decided to try my hand at painting -- before I had a clue that those were meant for easel painting, not tabletop painting!

However, that was about 20 minutes worth of work, and Christmas is now 20 days gone by. So what on earth have I been doing with my time? Well, I did spend a good bit of quality time with the Muses and with little Goober Bear.

A Muses + MuseMen Gathering at Adventure Woman's House

Calvin Turns His New "Building" Into A Car-Fixing-Place

There were some outings with Adventure Boy, including a very cool art exhibit called The Bold Beauty Project. It was held at a gorgeous place called Messina Inn, about 5 minutes from the Wimberley square, which I never even knew existed here. Right on the river, and if they're not hosting a wedding or some other major event, they rent out the casitas to individuals. Might be a fun place for a family gathering!

There was an awesome day spent with my daughter, seeing "On The Basis of Sex" -- a wonderful movie made even better by sharing it with her. Then yesterday it was back over to Austin to gather with the whole gang, in celebration of her 36th birthday! How is that  even possible? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was turning that age?

Black Velvet Cupcakes with Mexican Chocolate Frosting by Cake Monster

 
I guess it's really true. Time does fly when you're having fun. Which could be why I can't seem to accomplish anything here at home!

HERE COMES THE FUN PART!

This was the first time he ever put on a costume of his own volition, and insisted that his Wonder Crew buddy Will be dressed to match.

 

And thus, we enter The World of Make Believe.

(Happy Dance! Happy Dance!)

HELLO OLD FRIEND, AND A GIVEAWAY!

It seems like I've spent most of my life as a Weight Watchers follower. It started in my teens when Mom decided to join and, as we all know, if mama is on WW, everyone is on WW. I got interested again when Hubby and I moved back from our honeymoon years in Indonesia and Bahrain. We may have gone just a tad crazy with the plethora of food choices we suddenly had available to us, after three years of nothing but the basics. WW was also responsible for helping me to lose all of my "baby fat" after each pregnancy, and for helping me get everything under control when I hit menopause and things went a bit haywire. I transferred my membership here to Wimberley when I moved here ahead of my hubby, but within a month or two our franchise got shut down, and I've been winging it on my own ever since.

Turns out, I didn't really miss it when I was here alone. What with all the exploring and walking I was doing, fixing up the house, planting the garden, getting to know all our local growers and producers while helping to launch The Bountiful Sprout, and learning to cook simple meals with what was in season and locally grown, I lost about 15 pounds without even trying!

Then Hubby finally retired and joined me here, and going out to restaurants was a lot more fun with him along. Plus, I went back to cooking more elaborate, meat-centered meals. Then the kids were all in Austin, and there were weddings and a grandkid, and I turned 65, and for the first time ever, I never got around to lose my "Christmas 5" last year, and then there was another 5 this Christmas, and, well...

But, then a miraculous bit of synchronicity occurred. First, I heard that WW had finally reopened here in Wimberley. Then, I discovered that my beloved Blue Apron meal delivery service had teamed up with WW, and we now had the option of receiving meals that fit in with all the WW Freestyle program guidelines, with all the points and nutritional information included. Woohoo!

Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that when synchronicity comes a-knockin', you really oughtta let her in!

P.S. If any of you are doing WW, and would like to give the Blue Apron Freestyle meals a try for free, I have 5 free box deliveries that I'm allowed to award to anyone who has never received one or been a member of Blue Apron before. Each box contains everything you need for three complete meals, and is worth up to $72! So, first 5 of you who send your name and email to me at btlane53@gmail.com will get signed up to receive one.